Method of preparing a decorative laminated article

ABSTRACT

A transparent/translucent double-layer plastic sheet material which transmits light, comprising a pair of transparent/translucent sheet materials, wherein one side is of matte finish, the other side color coated, wherein the sheet materials are joined together with the matte finish facing outward.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the preparation of decorative light-emittingplastic for the purpose of preparing unique ornamental designs for bothresidential and commercial applications. More particular, the inventionherein relates to the use of generally transparent plastic material,uniformly colored on one side and protected, providing a unique back-litillumination effect or unique decorative surface appearance as appliedto a variety of artistic/decorative applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of plastic material, and more specifically, transparent plasticmaterial, for decorative applications, is well-known. Along such lines,acrylic materials, both in clear form and in solid color form, have beenavailable for quite some time. For example, a “PLEXIGLAS” brand acrylicis a cast thermoplastic acrylic sheet produced in a number offormulations to provide specific physical properties for a number ofapplications. Along such lines, solid color translucent acrylic sheetsare widely used in the illuminated sign industry. “PLEXIGLAS” is aregistered trademark for such acrylic sheets of the Rohm and HaasCompany. In addition, “LUCITE” acrylic sheets have been available fromDuPont de Nemours & Co. Both brands of acrylic sheet have thereforefound there way into decorative consumer products.

However, one long-standing problem with acrylic sheet is that suchmaterial is prone to scratching, and efforts have centered around thepreparation of an acrylic based material that would bescratch-resistant. In that regard, abrasion resistant acrylic sheet hasbeen made available where optical quality, cleanability, and long-termretention of properties is important. Such material has been offered byDuPont under the name “LUCITE SAR”, which is said to comprise across-linked polysilicate resin to provide the acrylic sheet with acombination of properties including abrasion resistance, solventresistance and weatherability. In addition, a product presumablyoffering similar characteristics is sold under the trademark “ACRIVUE”is available from Swedlow, Inc., Garden Grove, Calif.

The use of colorful and durable sheets of other non-acrylic materials asa surface for various articles of furniture also exists in the priorart. For example, the use of the well-known “FORMICA” brand laminate oncounter tops is well known. In addition, other similar materialsgenerally of a solid color, or of a marbled decorative pattern becauseof the nature of the process to form the laminate, have been used as adecorative outer layer for furniture or accessories.

It has, however, been difficult to produce a colorful, durable, anddecorative transparent or translucent surfacing made from acrylic orpolycarbonate sheets. This problem is largely founded on obstacles topatterning the coloring in a contemporaneous fashion and in a mannerwhich is bright, lustrous, and resistant to fading, while at the sametime exhibiting colors which are extraordinarily brilliant and exhibitan apparent depth which is attractive to the eye.

Along such lines, the painting of acrylic sheets with an acrylic lacqueris known in the prior art. Where acrylic paints have been applied to theouter surface of the acrylic sheet, such paints have been handpaintedand highly rubbed to provide a brilliant, lustrous finish. Suchprocessing, however, is time consuming and expensive. In addition, sucharticles have suffered from the problem of chipping, peeling and fading.Specifically, the backpainting of acrylic sheets with an acrylic lacqueris reported in U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,235 to DeWitt which discloses anacrylic coating composition for use in back-painting impact-resistantacrylic sheets for use as signs.

In addition, attention is directed at U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,603 whichrecites a method of making a laminate and articles of furniture whereina transparent acrylic sheet is coated with an acrylic paint coatingcomposition on one side in a predetermined color and decorative pattern.The coated sheet is then coated with an acrylic primer coatingcomposition over the acrylic paint coating. The sheet is then adhesivelysecured to a backing member such as barrel board for fabrication intofurniture.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,698 there is disclosed a method of making adecorative laminated article comprising the steps of providing anacrylic sheet, and applying a clear urethane coating composition, andapplying a water-based or latex color coating over the urethane coatingand bonding the sheet to a backing member comprising a fibercomposition.

However, upon review of all of the above, it becomes clear that none ofthese approaches of the prior art has been entirely satisfactory in atleast three significant respects. The first relates to the depth, colorand brilliance heretofore exhibited by painted acrylic lacquer sheets.The second relates to the ability to form patterns on the acrylic sheetof a contemporary design on a selective/custom basis for use inmanufacturing contemporary back-lit sheeting designs thereby providing a“soft” lighting effect, entirely pleasing to the viewer, and of aquality and durability that has not yet been attainable. And finally,the third unresolved problem has been that the various surfaces thathave been previously prepared, such as glossy, matte, or other type oftexture has not been renewable if damaged by use or vandalism.

Thus, it is a principal object of this invention to provide atransparent or translucent plastic material design, of layeredconstruction, which is bright, lustrous, and resistant to fading andscratching, while at the same time being relatively inexpensive tomanufacture and which maintains such properties as applied to either acommercial or residential design application.

It is also a further object of this invention to provide a transparentor translucent plastic material particularly suitable for back-lightingwhich again permits the use of color of extraordinary brilliance anddepth, while at the same providing the colors with protection fromchipping, peeling, and fading.

In addition, it is also an object of this invention to provide a durableand decorative transparent material for decorative applications, whichis “double-sided” in the sense that it transmits different colorpatterns on each side of equivalent quality as in a “single-sided”configuration.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to develop andapply a unique oil-based coating composition, and more specifically analkyd-type mixture, combined with powdered pigments, that uniquelyadheres to transparent or translucent plastic materials, to provide avibrant yet pleasing color transmission for use in either a commercialor residential decorative application.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from areview of the detailed description of the invention which follows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In product form, the invention first comprises a transparent/translucentplastic sheet material with a pair of opposed surfaces, wherein onesurface is of a matte finish, and wherein the opposite surface is coatedwith a color coating composition. The aforementioned colored sheetmaterial is adhered to another sheet material similarly coated, toprovide a double-side product each with either the same or differentcolor pattern, wherein the color patterns are protected by theirback-to-back configuration. Each colored coating of such double-sideproduct remains capable of a back-lighting effect.

In method form, the present invention relates to a method of preparing adecorative laminated article comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a first transparent/translucent plastic sheet with a pairof opposed surfaces

(b) applying a matte finish to one surface of the transparent sheet

(c) applying a color coating composition over that surface of the sheetthat is not of a matte finish, wherein said color coating compositioncomprises a liquid based coating composition combined with a powderedpigment.

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c) above to produce a secondtransparent/translucent plastic sheet containing a matte finish andcolor coating and joining said first and second sheet with said mattefinish of said sheets facing outward.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An acrylic or polycarbonate composition sheet is preferred as thestarting material for the present invention. The acrylic orpolycarbonate sheet may be used in any thickness, but preferably0.05-2.0 inch thickness sheet is employed. The acrylic or polycarbonatesheets can be either cast or extruded sheet

However, in the broad context of the present invention, it can beappreciated that other transparent or translucent type plastic materialsare suitable, provided they adhere to the oil-based/powdered pigmentpaint formulation as described herein. Along such lines, othertransparent plastic include, but are not limited to polyester,polysulphone, poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, polyamide, and polyurethane typeresins.

The acrylic or polycarbonate sheet is then sanded on one side to providea matte finish. By such, it is meant that one surface of the sheet ismade to provide a non-glossy or dull finish. However, the surface stillremains translucent, such that light may pass through the sheet but thelight is diffused so that objects on the other side cannot beingdistinguished. The preferred pattern is achieved by a electric orair-powered random orbit sander with a 0.18 inch orbit pattern and 80,100 or 120 grit disks. Also contemplated herein is the use of largerorbit equipment that would provide a similar effect, but over a muchshorter time period. In addition, as part of the method herein, thesanding machinery may be yoked together to increase production time.Also worthy of note is that during the sanding operation, a vacuum isapplied to remove dust for safety, as well as for the purpose ofmaintaining an exposed surface for the sanding operation.

The non-sanded surface is then coated, which can be accomplished in anyof the conventional ways of applying coatings, such as by brush, rolleror by spray. Alternatively, the coating can be applied first, followedby sanding. In any event, in the context of the present invention it hasbeen found preferable to apply the coating as noted above, and pat thesurface using a pad made of cloth, plastic, and/or paper to even out thecoverage and add texture.

With regards to the coating composition, broadly considered, either analkyd oil based or latex based liquid coating composition is suitable.However, it is preferred herein to make use of an alkyd oil based liquidcomposition, and more preferably to combine such alkyd oil based liquidcoating composition with a powdered pigment. In such regard, it has beenfound preferable to combine up to about 30% by weight powdered pigmentwith about 70% of an alkyd oil based liquid coating. However, in thebroad context of the present invention, 1-25% of powdered pigment iscombined with 99%-70% of the alkyd oil based coating, includingincrements of 1.0% therebetween. Accordingly, it can therefore beappreciated that a particularly preferred combination is about 10.0% byweight powdered pigment and 90.0% of the liquid alkyd oil basedingredient.

In addition, with respect to the liquid alkyd oil based ingredient, suchis preferably prepared by combining an alkyd medium with an alkyd oilpaint, wherein both products are available from Windsor Newton, the gelmedium sold under the tradename “Liquin”. In such regard, it has beenfound preferable to combine 1-99% of the alkyd medium with 99-1% of thealkyd oil paint, depending upon the particular color and intensityultimately desired. That being the case, it can also be appreciatedherein that in the final preferred embodiment, an alkyd medium iscombined with an alkyd oil paint, along with powdered pigment, whereinthe concentration of the three components are varied in accordance withthe color intensity requirements of the final product. The powderedpigments used herein therefore include, but are not limited to, pearlwhite, iridescent gold, blue over green, green over gold, violate andblue interference powder, and are available from Central Art Supply ofNew York.

Although the preferred embodiment herein is a double-side application,wherein two transparent/translucent sheets, color coated as describedabove, are joined together with the matte side facing out, the inventionherein also applies in a single sided application. In regards to suchsingle sided applications which are not permanently affixed to asubstrate material, which can be either fiberboard or wood, it has beenfound useful to apply a relatively thin (5-10 mil) backing oftransparent sheet, such as polycarbonate, to the colored surface, toprotect from damage. Alternatively, if the colored sheet material hereinis to be glued to a substrate, it has been found preferable to coat thecolored side with a water based latex primer to form a barrier betweenthe colorant and any glue such as contact cement that may interact with,e.g., the preferred alkyd color coating.

Finally, as noted above, the present invention preferably makes use ofan alkyd oil based medium for the unique color coating effect producedherein. Those skilled in the art will recognize that an alkyd oil basedmedium typically references a polyester type coating, modified by theaddition of fatty acids derived from mineral and vegetable oils.However, in the broad context of the present invention, any oil basedpaint will operate, as well as latex type formulations, in combinationwith a powdered pigment, to provide the unique light-transmitting sheetmaterials described herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of preparing a decorative laminatedarticle comprising the steps of: (a) providing a firsttransparent/translucent plastic sheet with a pair of opposed surfaces,(b) applying a matte finish to one surface of saidtransparent/translucent sheet, (c) applying a color coating compositionover the other surface of the first transparent/translucent plasticsheet, wherein said color coating composition comprises a liquid basedcoating composition combined with a powdered pigment, said coatingcomposition comprising an alkyd based coating composition wherein saidalkyd based composition is a mixture of about 70-99% (wt) alkyd oilbased coating and 30-1% (wt) powdered pigment (d) providing a secondtransparent/translucent plastic sheet with a pair of opposed surfacesand applying a matte finish to one surface, (e) applying a color coatingcomposition over the other surface of the second transparent/translucentplastic sheet, wherein said color coating composition comprises an alkydbased coating composition wherein said alkyd based composition is amixture of about 70-99% (wt) alkyd oil based coating and 30-1% (wt)powdered pigment), and (f) joining said first and second sheets withsaid matte finish of said sheets facing outward and with said colorcoating compositions facing inward wherein said color coatingcompositions are in contact and adhered together and each color coatingcomposition exhibits a back-lighting effect.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein said transparent/translucent plastic sheets comprise poly(methyl methacrylate) or polycarbonate.